Green land

(grēn'land,) a large country of the N. American continent, and occupying a peninsula extending from the Arctic Circle, in 80° to 60° N. Lat., and bet. 20° and 85° W. Lon., being the most N. land in the W. hemisphere. It is b. W. by Davis' Straits and Baffin's Bay, S.E. by the N. Atlantic, and E. by the Arctic Ocean. It is traversed from N. to S. by a lofty range of mountains, separating it into E. and W. Green land. Its coasts are deeply indented by arms of the sea, and dotted by numerous islands, the majority of which are generally imbedded in ice.-Clim. In summer the heat is sometimes almost insupportable; while, in winter, the cold is commensurably severe. Its waters are much sought by ships engaged in whaling and the fisheries. G. is inhabited by the Esquimaux (q. v.), and by afew Fig. 364.- ESQUIMAU CATCHING SEAL. Danish colonists, their principal settlements being at Disco, Upernavik, and Frederickshavn. The walrus, seal (Fig. 364), polar bear, arctic fox, and reindeer abound, and supply the inhabitants with almost all the nece aries of life. G. was first discovered by a Norwegian navigator about the 9th cent. After its rediscovery by Davis, 1587, it came under Danish jurisdiction, under which it has since remained. European poρ. 9,352. [s. 424] IMG:p0469_0.jpg:Gravür